Problems at the Office
by headcanonftwAO3
Summary: The 27th recieves complaints about our gay heroes, who are threatened with losing their jobs if they don't stop publicly displaying their affection, then a slanderous article appears about them in the newspaper. Yaoi, er...lime?, language.
1. Complaints

Problems at the Office

Ryo and Dee are finally a happy couple!--until the rest of the squad catches wind of their courtship. Now, not only does Ryo have second thoughts about being openly "together" with Dee, but both of their jobs are at stake!

DISCLAIMER: I do not have the pleasure of owning FAKE; that honor goes to Sanami Matoh-sama. I do not have Matoh-sama's permission to write this, and it only for the pleasure of those who read it here on For morons who are reading this without knowing what FAKE is, this is yaoi. Rated M for language and sexuality, and explicit convorsations in later chapters.

Chapter 1: Complaints

* * *

Ryo MacClean woke around 3:30am. After taking a quick shower, he hurried out of his somewhat lavish apartment and caught a cab down to the 27th precinct of the NYPD—his dream job. As he pushed his way through the swinging doors he smelled the coffee that was constantly brewing and was suddenly aching for a cup. He made his way through crowds of his coworkers toward his small office and saw a little girl run across the room to a woman that stood waiting for her. As he watched them embrace, he remembered why he kept going in such a stressful line of work. He knew that he helped someone everyday, even if only a little, and that got him through his days—even when they _were_ 4-4 shifts, like today. 

"Hey, Ryo," he heard behind him as he sat in front of his computer. Ryo turned in his swiveling chair, and saw Dee Laytner standing behind him wearing his usual smirk.

Ryo couldn't help by smile. "Hi Dee. How long have you been here?"

Dee rolled his eyes and grimaced. "Since last night. Damned Badger—he had me here all night working with the _commissioner_ on some kidnapping from 10 years ago or some other long-ass time ago." He pretended to gag at the thought of the commissioner, Berkeley Rose.

Ryo turned back to his computer and flipped the "ON" switch. "You know the chief only wants you two to get along." As the computer came to life, he watched Dee's reflection as he came up behind him. Dee leaned on the back of Ryo's chair and whispered into Ryo's ear:

"How can I get along with the commish when he's wanted _you_ from day one?" Ryo felt Dee's warm breath on his ear and chills ran his spine. He and Dee had been in a relationship for a few months now, but Dee still had so many tricks up his sleeve that no matter what Ryo knew, there was always something more. And, while Ryo experienced everything anew, Dee got to enjoy his partner's naïveté. "Don't think I've forgotten that he likes you just 'coz we're together now. He still looks at you, ya know, and I may be stupid but I'm not blind."

"I didn't mean any of that, Dee, and you know it," Ryo said huffily, falling into his usual role of "irritated bystander". "Now you go sit at your desk, I'll sit at mine, and we can get working. Okay?"

"Fine," Dee grumbled, turning to return to his desk behind Ryo's.

Ryo smiled. No matter how many gay-tricks Dee knew, Ryo always had a "no"-trick to counter it. However, just as Ryo turned around to grab some coffee, Dee pounced, grabbing Ryo by the chin and kissing him passionately. He let Ryo come up for air, which he desperately needed, then murmured "Good morning, partner." He then strode to his desk, satisfied for the moment, and continued clicking away at his old kidnapping case.

Ryo sat breathing heavily by the coffeepot and smiling slightly—Dee's trick had won out today, but, then again, the day wasn't over yet.

Dee scrolled through some old files, hoping to find something out about the kidnapping case the chief had assigned him. _Stupid old Badger,_ he thought bitterly as he halfheartedly skimmed some old suspect files that had turned up dead-ends. _He set me with Rose on purpose, he knows I hate him._ He looked away from the screen for a moment and saw Ryo leaving the office.

"Hey!" he called, leaping from his seat to follow. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to check in with the chief," Ryo replied matter-of-factly. "I need a new case since my last one just closed, and seeing as we _are_ a police station, I figured he'd have something for me to do."

"You came in at four in the morning without a _case_?" Dee sneered, flashing his trademark grin. "You must've _really_ wanted to see me, huh?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Neanderthal. I switched with Drake again, so I thought I would do my best here."

"Right." Dee turned back to his desk, grabbed a file, and strode out of the office alongside Ryo. "I guess I'll come along too," he said, as if he was making a huge sacrifice. "It'll give me a chance to ask the chief why the hell he gave me something so random, _and_ I'll be able to keep an eye on Berks for you."

Ryo shrugged and kept walking, and Dee stayed right next to him. Dee unknowingly glared at Ryo, the way he could just walk down the hallways looking so uninterested while Dee couldn't do anything but act out. Dee loved and hated that quality in him, because half the time he couldn't tell whether Ryo still felt anything for him. He could be so damn stony.

_That must be what the commish sees in him,_ Dee thought coldly as they rounded the corner into the chief's office. _The way he can turn his emotions off and on like that._

"Hey boys," the chief said through a cigar as they walked up to his desk. "What are we up to now?"

Dee watched as Ryo explained about wanting a new case to work on and made some joke about not having anymore cover-up paperwork of Dee's for once without really listening. Although Dee loved Ryo more than life itself, he had yet to completely figure him out. Ryo always tried to act as though they weren't together at work, but as soon as they were off police territory suddenly they were allowed to be all over each other. Dee couldn't make sense of it, and anytime he'd asked Ryo about it directly the subject magically changed to something else.

_If only he'd let me in a little. Then I could prove to him that I'm a hell of a lot more than just a pretty face and a hot piece of ass._

"Dee?" The chief had been talking to Dee but Dee, lost in his thoughts, hadn't heard a word he'd said.

"What?" he said, trying not to sound too stupid.

"I said would you mind letting Ryo in on your kidnapping?" the chief said, obviously irritated.

"Ah, no, of course not," Dee said quickly. "But I thought I was on that with Berk?"

"If you'd rather have the commissioner, that's fine with me," the chief said leaning back on his desk. "I just thought that, under the circumstances, you two might want to work together."

"What circumstances?" Ryo asked politely, but still noticeably intrigued.

"I mean with you being, well…you know." The chief looked flustered, as though he didn't want to say what he was trying to say. Finally he gave up trying to find the right words and just blurted it out. "Since you guys are like a couple now."

Dee frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, taking a few steps closer to the chief. "Are you saying that you don't like what we've got so you're sticking us together just to keep us outta your hair?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," the chief said. "It's just…" He walked across his office and closed the door before continuing. "We've gotten some complaints from some of the office staff, and from our citizens, that they don't like you guys working together if you like each other, which is pretty obvious. The Bronx station started getting compliments because they finally got you guys to leave. So it's not that I'm a homophobe or anything, it's just there have been people saying that they don't think you should do any really active cases until they decide whether or not your relationship is affecting your work habits." He shrugged then made his way back to his desk.

* * *

"How would people even know!" Dee raged, pacing around the lounge while Ryo sat at the table sifting through his new files around 6:30. "I mean, it's not like we would kiss or anything during bomb threats and shit—" 

"I don't know Dee," Ryo sighed, more interested in his age-old files than Dee's ranting. "Maybe word just got out, and people started seeing it every time we walked by, like when we release a photo of some killer, everyone sees him everywhere."

"This is just discrimination though! I mean, how would word even _get_ out? No one knew but our guys in here, and they wouldn't have…" Dee stopped short. "Berkeley. I bet he spread some rumors about us and _then _everyone went looking for proof!"

"So now you're blaming Berkeley for your flamboyant gayness?" Ryo snickered.

"Will you shut up, this is serious!" Dee yelled.

"What's happening in here?" Ryo and Dee turned to the door in time to see fellow detectives Drake, Ted and JJ walk into the lounge looking weary.

"Where have you guys been?" Dee said angrily, flopping into a seat next to Ryo.

"_Huge_ drug bust, man," Ted said, sliding into a chair across from them. "Turned into this big hostage situation, and we had to call JJ in to snipe…God it was exhausting."

"_Hostages_!" Dee shouted, standing again. "Ryo, even your pansy ass should be outraged at this! We weren't even called in during a _hostage situation_!"

"What's your problem?" Drake asked from the coffee counter. "You usually leap at the chance to get out of doing any work, why are you so upset?"

"Because the only reason _we_ weren't called is that we're a gay couple and your _hostages_ would've probably rather stayed with their captors than get saved by two men who share a bed!"

"Dee!" Ryo hissed, turning bright red.

"What?" Dee bellowed back, now rounding on Ryo. "Just because you can't admit it doesn't mean I—"

"Ladies, would you please keep your voices down, I can hear you across the station." Someone else had just entered the lounge—Berkeley Rose, the asshole commissioner.

"What the hell do you want, _commissioner_?" Dee asked haughtily.

"For you to shut up for 10 minutes," Berkeley shot back. "I also needed to know if you'd come up with anything on that kidnapping."

"No, I haven't, and I wouldn't be reporting it to you anymore anyway because I'm working on it with Ryo now." Dee smirked at Berkeley's obvious annoyance. "Or did the chief forget to mention that to you?"

Berkeley didn't bite. "The chief _did_ tell me that he was putting Ryo on the case, actually. What he didn't say was that he was taking me off it. So, in effect, we're all working _together_ on this one, Dee—and I don't like it any more than you do." He turned on his heel and walked back down the hall in the direction of the chief's office.

"Asshole," Dee grumbled.

"Not that this isn't fun, but I'm going to go look these up on the computer, too," Ryo said, getting up from his chair and walking quickly to the door. "See you there?"

"In a bit." Dee watched his silhouette walked down the hall in the opposite direction from Berkeley. "Why is it I can't figure him out, huh?"

"Why does it matter whether you figure him out?" JJ burst out. It was the first time he'd spoken to Dee in weeks. JJ had known Dee when they were in the police academy together and had fallen in love with him there, but no matter how hard he tried, Dee had always hated him. So ever since he'd heard that Ryo had snagged Dee's heart, he'd been giving Dee the silent treatment—not realizing that Dee was loving not having him around. "You finally got him, so why do you care what he's about?"

"Because contrary to what you may think, I'm not only with him to piss you off!" Dee shouted.

"Well!" JJ said indignantly, standing up and walking huffily out of the lounge.

Dee raised and eyebrow, then turned back to Drake and Ted. "So what do you guys think?"

"I don't really know, man," said Ted, sounding more than half-asleep. "You said that Ryo was straight before right? Well, maybe he's feeling pressure 'cause he's gay now?"

"Actually a good point," Dee said grumpily. He hated being wrong.

"It's possible," Drake yawned. "However, there might be pressure coming from you too, ya know Dee."

"_What_!" Dee cried, leaping once again from his seat. "I haven't been pressured him into anything!"

"I'm not saying you did!" Drake yelled defensively. "All I'm saying is that you're very open about being gay and he's not yet. I mean come on, he's lived his entire life straight and then out of the blue he meets you and falls head over heels. Maybe he just feels like the switch was too much too fast and he doesn't think anyone else will be able to deal with it?"

"I guess…" Dee leaned against the coffee counter to ponder the thought. _Have I been pushing to hard for him to come around? I mean, it _has_ been a couple weeks, but maybe he still doesn't know…_ "I'll talk to him about it tonight, then. Maybe I can figure out what's bugging him if I ask him directly." He walked out of the lounge and down the hall to his and Ryo's office.

* * *

Ryo sat in his bedroom later that night sifting through the files the chief had given him. Every lead they had gotten back then had dried up, and there was so little evidence the case might as well not have existed. He took off his glasses and slumped a little. He hadn't been assigned such a washed up case in ages. He heard the door open and figured it was Bikky, the boy he'd taken in after the boy's father died. He heard him coming his way and called out to him. 

"Hey Bikky, I'm in my room. How was school?"

"Bikky's with Carol." Ryo heard Dee's voice float over to him from the living room. He looked up in surprise.

"Dee? I didn't know you were coming over," Ryo said, hoping he didn't sound unhappy to see him. "How do you know where Bikky is?"

"Because I paid him 20 bucks to go," Dee said assuredly, walking into Ryo's room and plopping onto his bed next to him. He looked Ryo straight in the eye. "We need to talk."

Ryo tried to smile, but he knew Dee was serious. "Okay. What about?"

"Why don't you 'fess up to the fact that you are ashamed of being gay?" Dee demanded. "You know what you are, I know, everyone at the station knows, so why do you still feel like you need to hide? I kissed you earlier and it felt like I was kissing a freakin' doorknob! What is it that's making you hold back?"

Ryo hung his head, unable to look at Dee. "You know what the chief said? About the complaints? He told about me that kind of thing awhile ago, before it was specifically about us. He said that he hoped he never ended up having a gay couple in his precinct just so he wouldn't have to deal with it." Ryo finally looked Dee in the eye. "That's another reason it took so long for me to admit I liked you, too. I'm sorry I'm not as outgoing as you are, Dee. I wish I had the guts to admit what I am to the world, but I can't. I'm sorry."

Dee was quiet for a long time. He looked as if he was having trouble processing what Ryo had just said. After awhile he said, "So you knew about this homophobic police shit and didn't tell _me_?"

"Of _course _not," Ryo said exasperatedly, amazed that Dee was focusing on that aspect of the story of all things. "If I had you'd have made a huge scene like you did today and I would have never said anything!"

Dee put his head in his hands. Ryo felt guilty for causing something like this, but he didn't know how to act now that he was with Dee. Gay people never bothered him or anything, but now that he was gay himself he was worried about what people would think of him for the first time in his life. And Dee hadn't done anything to deserve his reservations. He happened to fall in love with someone who wasn't aware of his sexuality, let alone comfortable with it, and that wasn't his fault.

Ryo heard Dee mumble something into his hands. "What?" Ryo asked.

Dee lifted his head and, without looking at Ryo, whispered, "Do you want to end this, Ryo?"

Ryo couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "No!" he exclaimed, aghast that Dee of all people would be the one to suggest something so drastic. "I've got some quirks, but I can work them out! _We _can work it out, Dee! Together!" Dee still wouldn't look at him. "Dee!" Ryo got off his bed and knelt in front of Dee.

Ryo cupped Dee's face in his hands and forced him to look up. He smiled but Dee looked away. He stood and walked to the door, where he stood immobile in the frame.

"Tell me the truth, Ryo," Dee hissed, sounding almost angry. "Do you want to end this?"

Ryo stood and walked up behind Dee—and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Hey!" Dee cried, rounding on Ryo. "What the hell was that for!"

"At least now you sound like yourself you stupid jerk!" Ryo yelled, angrier now than worried. "I told you my answer! If _you _want to end this then just tell me but don't try to make me say that _I_ wanted it because I don't!"

"Prove it, Sandra Dee!" Dee yelled right back. "Prove that you give a shit about me or us! Stop cowering in the shadows every time someone passes in fear that someone will see us together! Stop telling me to be quiet when I say something that might indicate we're more than field partners! For God's sake, _pretend_ like you're interested in me somewhere outside your or my apartment!"

"Fine!" Ryo was hardly aware of what he'd just agreed to, he just wanted Dee to be on his side again. "I'll do whatever you want, just please don't make us end something really good just because I'm screwed up!" He held Dee and talked more quietly. "We can get through anything, but we have to stay together if we intend to make this work. I'll work on my quirks, and you just talk to me instead of going Drake and Ted about it first, okay?"

"How'd you know I went to Drake and Ted first?" Dee asked.

JJ came by and started ranting about how could I treat Dee like that when most other people are fawning over him. Then he said that you were in the lounge talking to Drake and Ted about it."

"I'll kill him for that tomorrow," Dee pushed Ryo off him gently. "But until then…" He shoved Ryo down onto his own bed and straddled him there. "Let's make up for real, huh?"

"You sex fiend!" Ryo shouted, trying to push Dee off him. "You have the worst timing _possible_ when you get horny, ya know!"

"It's not something I can help. Now quiet down, and let's make all our troubles melt away…"

* * *

At work the next day, Dee spun around and around in his swivel chair at his desk, not caring that his computer was beeping at him with information on his case. He and Ryo had gotten _intimate_ the night before and he was on cloud nine. Ryo had a knack of doing that to him, even when he wasn't trying to. Dee was about to spin another time when he heard someone enter his office. 

"Well, someone's talk went well," Ted said as he sidled past a stack of evidence boxes Ryo had offered to hold for the ME.

"You bet your ass it did," Dee sang, spinning his chair so hard he banged into his desk. "Ow! God damn it!"

"We were in here for a reason, people," JJ pushed past Ted and stood directly in front of Dee. "The chief wants to have a talk with you, Dee, so you get your fine ass up and follow me!" He strode out of the office and down the hall.

Dee followed reluctantly, eventually losing Ted in the mass of people crowding the station. When he reached the chief's office he saw that Ryo had already arrived there—and that the chief did not look happy.

"What's up, Badger?" he asked, completely bewildered.

The chief sighed and rubbed his temples. Dee grimaced. _This isn't going to be pretty._

"Boys," the chief said in a low, serious voice. "We have things to discuss. I received another anonymous complaint yesterday, which said that you two are all over each other. I don't give a damn what you do in the privacy of your own home, but at work you need to be strictly field partners, nothing else."

"How is this an emergency, we've already talked about this!" Dee said testily.

"Well it obviously didn't sink in, now, did it?" the chief shouted. He sighed, composing himself. "I don't know how else to stop this, but if I get one more complaint I'm suspending you both without pay."

Ryo stepped in now, clearly angry. "What! Chief, you can't suspend us! We haven't done anything wrong! Unless we have committed a crime or something we can't be suspended!"

"Well, then, keep your hands off each other and I won't have to," the chief said simply. "If you give me anymore trouble it's going to be my only option."

"But what about outside work?" Dee said. "Will that count against us?"

"Only if someone says something about it," the chief replied. "Now go back to work—I've got some other people coming and I want to be ready."

Ryo and Dee stomped out of the chief's office and down the hall to their office. "I cannot _believe_ this is happening!" Ryo cried once they were safely inside. "I happen to have a _boyfriend _and suddenly I'm threatened with losing my job? This is ridiculous!"

"See? Now my ranting from yesterday doesn't seem so stupid, huh?" Dee grumbled, staring straight into his computer without seeming to really see it.

_Why is everything so hard all of a sudden?_ Ryo asked himself. _Everything was fine at first, but it's gone so downhill __that it's not funny!_ "Do you think this could be a setup?" He directed his question at Dee, but Dee didn't respond. "Dee?"

"You were right, weren't you?" Dee said, swiveling around to face Ryo. "You said you didn't want to be too public because it could get us in trouble, and you were right. Now we're on the verge of losing our jobs all because I wanted you to come out of the closet."

"It's not your fault everyone's being so dumb about us," Ryo said.

"Yeah, but I'm the one who forced them to see something that freaked them out. Face it, Ryo, I'm a jerk just like you said last night."

"No you're not, I only said that because I was angry. And besides, you're _my_ jerk, and nothing will ever take you away from me." He gave Dee a quick but meaningful kiss, then smiled. Finally, Dee smiled back, and they returned to their case.

* * *

Outside Ryo and Dee's office, a man stood with a small digital camera, which he was pointing directly through the tiny square window in the office door. He clicked the button a few times, not wanting to miss anything that would aid him. He turned the camera toward himself and looked into the tiny viewing screen. He smiled. 

_Perfect_.


	2. Pressing Matters

Hi hi! I've got more time now, so I can update faster. Don't get used to it, though—as soon as I start getting into this something'll come up and I'll have to stop writing. Don't get angwy.

Same disclaimers and warnings apply.

Chapter 2: Pressing Matters

* * *

Last time:

"_I'm a jerk just like you said last night." _

"_No you're not, I only said that because I was angry. And besides, you're my jerk, and nothing will ever take you away from me." He gave Dee a quick but meaningful kiss, then smiled. Finally, Dee smiled back, and they returned to their case. _

_Outside Ryo and Dee's office, a man stood with a small digital camera, which he was pointing directly through the tiny square window in the office door. He clicked the button a few times, not wanting to miss anything that would aid him. He turned the camera toward himself and looked into the tiny viewing screen. He smiled. _Perfect.

Ryo stood in front of the steamy shower of his apartment toweling his hair dry. He lowered the damp towel to wipe a stream of water from his forehead with his shirtsleeve. Before he could resume the drying process, however, Dee had wandered into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around Ryo's slender waist.

"What are you doing, Dee?" Ryo asked nonchalantly, though he knew perfectly well what Dee had in mind.

"What do you think?" Dee said seductively as he started to plant soft but passionate kisses on the older man's neck.

"Oh, I don't know, a quiet night of movies and checkers?" Ryo suggested playfully, giggling a little when Dee began nibbling his earlobe. "But I don't care what you want, Dee—I want to have some _real_ fun."

"Well, aren't we blunt," Dee said, kissing the back of Ryo's head and breathing in his scent as it mingled with the fragrance of his shampoo. "I'm sure I could arrange that for you, easy." He turned Ryo around and kissed him.

Ryo touched Dee's smooth, bare chest (subconsciously making a mental note to ask Dee if he shaved his chest). Then he reached up and ran his fingers through the younger man's thick black hair. His spine tingled as Dee stroked his back lightly. He tasted the tobacco on Dee's lips, which reminded him of their first night together—which only succeeded in making him want Dee even more.

Dee seemed to sense Ryo's increased arousal, because he pushed Ryo against the bathroom wall at that very moment and started roughly unbuttoning Ryo's shirt. Ryo gripped Dee's strong shoulders more tightly as Dee worked his way down to his pants. A moan escaped his lips as he felt his partner begin sucking at the crook of his neck.

Ryo reached for Dee's belt buckle and began to unfasten it. He tried to undo the button but his hands were trembling, so he only ended up slipping his fingers below the waistline of Dee's pants. Dee pulled away from Ryo's neck to undo them himself. He looked and smiled.

"I still effect you that much, eh?" he whispered, staring into Ryo's pitch-black eyes with his own emerald ones.

Ryo smiled. "I guess so."

Dee enveloped him in another deep kiss, this time forcing his lover to the floor where he lay on his back. Dee lay on top of him, and, as always happened when they had sex, Ryo's only thoughts were on his partner: how much he loved him; how much he needed him; and just how happy he was that out of all the people he could have had, Dee had chosen him.

Dee finally got his pants and boxers off, and Ryo wiggled out of his pajama bottoms and boxers. Once naked they had sex right there on the floor of the bathroom. Ryo didn't even care that they had chosen an abnormal place for their lovemaking. All he cared about was Dee, and he knew that Dee felt the same.

* * *

Dee woke up the next morning in Ryo's bed. Ryo must have dragged him into the room after their session the night before—he had always had a weird phobia of sleeping anywhere but a bed, so it made sense he wouldn't have wanted them to stay in the bathroom.

Dee stood up and fished through the hall closet for a towel so he could shower before work. He found one, and started to make his way toward the bathroom. He turned inside and found himself staring at Bikky.

"What the hell are you doing here, freak?" Bikky asked, wiping toothpaste off his mouth.

"I stayed over, you got a problem with that?" Dee retorted angrily, secretly happy that Ryo had forced his boxers back on him the previous night.

"Yeah I got a problem with it. You did something to Ryo, didn't you?"

"Wow, you're perceptive. We're a couple, what did you expect that to entail, you midget monkey?"

"I don't mean that kind of something, you freakin' retard!" Bikky shouted, placing is fist indignantly on his hip. "I know you guys do that stuff, I'm not stupid."

"News to me." Dee leaned against the doorframe to wait out Bikky's rant.

"Screw you. He went out a few hours ago and when he came back he was acting funny. I know you must've done something to him to make his act funny, now 'fess up, Old Man Perv!"

"First of all, How could I have done something to him if he was fine when he left and only weird when he came back? And second of all—isn't Carol the one who calls me 'Old Man Perv'?"

"Shaddap," Bikky said angrily as he stomped out of the bathroom.

Grinning at his triumph over Bikky, Dee walked out into the living room to look for Ryo. He found him sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"Hey, Babe," Dee said as he sat on the arm of the couch beside him. "Bikky thinks I did something to you to make you freak out—any idea what he's talking about?"

Ryo didn't answer. He just kept reading the paper. Dee waved his hand in front of his face and got no response.

"Hello? Are you okay?" He shook Ryo's shoulder roughly, which seemed to finally release him from his trance. He looked up from the paper and straight into Dee's eyes. Dee immediately registered pain in his lover's face, pain that he hadn't seen since Ryo had faced his parents' murderer. Dee stroked Ryo's face tenderly. "What happened?" he asked.

Ryo handed him the paper. Dee stared down at it, his emotions shifting from concern for his partner to fury the moment he read the headline:

"GAY COPS CORRUPTING THE ALREADY CORRUPT NYPD"

"What the fuck is this!" Dee yelled, standing up from the arm of the couch and rounding on his partner. "How the hell does the newspaper know about this? The chief has only mentioned the homophobic complaints TWICE, how could there be enough material to make it newsworthy already?"

"It gets worse," Ryo said tonelessly, pointing to the article itself. Dee looked down at the print in anger.

_The NYPD has always be infamous for housing the most immoral of officers and releasing the most notorious of criminals, but this particular feat will put our despicable police force on the map forever. The NYPD has employed at least two openly homosexual men as homicide detectives in the 27th precinct. As if this wasn't bad enough, the two known gay cops are involved with one another and practically live together. These detectives—Dee Laytner and his partner Randy "Ryo" MacClean—have been employed by the NYPD for 20 years, and have been partners for the last two, partners meaning they worked together on cases and went into the field together. Our sources indicate that for at least the last year they have been involved privately as well. _

"_They're always all over each other," says Jemmy "JJ" Adams of his coworkers. "They're never apart, even off-duty. They didn't admit being an item for awhile after hooking up, but everyone already knew without their confession."_

"I am gonna _kill_ JJ!" Dee screamed, sinking onto the sofa in weariness. "How could he talk against us in an anti-gay article when he's gayer than a two-dollar bill!"

"I don't think he actually told the reporter that, Dee," Ryo said, still monotone. "I heard him complaining to Drake about it last week—those exact words, in fact. I think someone's been sneaking around, trying to get dirt on us for this article. Keep reading."

_Some of the pictures we have are too graphic to show in a public newspaper, but suffice it to say that we have obtained evidence that these men show their affection at any time, in any place, including their own office at the 27th precinct. _

"…Dee's very open about being gay and Ryo's not yet," says Drake Parker, a fellow detective and former partner of Detective Laytner. "I mean come on, he's lived his entire life straight and then out of the blue he meets Dee and falls head over heels. Maybe he just feels like the switch was too much too fast and he doesn't think anyone else will be able to deal with it?" 

Detective Parker seems to take a very understanding stand on this issue, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the precinct. 

"It's sick," says another officer of the 27th precinct who has declined to be identified. "It freaks me out that I've worked cases with those guys and then they've left work to do that kind of stuff…I regret ever telling my superiors that they were great cops." 

Knowing that there are such people working in our police department, can New York find the courage to continue asking for help from the police?—or will we have to live in worry that the cops handling our case will be handling something else instead? 

Dee sat on the couch beside Ryo fuming. How could the newspaper allow such a slanderous article to be published? This was obviously the work of someone who had a vendetta against only him and Ryo—otherwise they would have mentioned that JJ was gay, and that Drake had often strayed away from the "straight and narrow".

And why would Drake and JJ have ratted on them? He hoped that Ryo's idea that someone had been eavesdropping on conversations and printing them as interviews was correct (for Drake and JJ's sakes).

"Why has this all started happening now?" Ryo asked, his voicing breaking a little. He hung his head and his shoulders started to shake. "Why did someone have to notice the second we were happy?"

Dee wrapped his arm around Ryo's trembling shoulders and kissed him on the side of his head. Then he pulled him into a loving embrace. Ryo gripped him hard around the waist and began to sob silently into Dee's bare stomach.

"Sh, sh…it's okay," Dee said, stroking Ryo's hair and trying to calm him down. "Don't worry, Babe, we'll get through this. As long as you're willing to stay with me, we can get through this."

"Don't worry, Dee," Ryo said, muffled slightly by Dee's flesh. "I'll stay with you through all of this. And we'll come out on top at the end of all this."

"That's right, we will." Dee helped Ryo sit up straight. "I'm gonna go call the badger. If this whole 'scandal' has reached the paper, I'm sure we've already been suspended with out pay for the last hour or so." He stood and walked over to the phone. He watched Ryo stand and walk into the kitchen to make coffee as he dialed the precinct.

"Homicide," the chief answered. Dee could hear the sounds of the precinct in the background.

"Hey, Chief," Dee said, trying to sound obnoxious so the chief wouldn't think something was wrong. "It's Dee. I was just calling to ask—"

"Where the hell are you and Ryo!" the chief yelled into the receiver. "Your shift started hours ago!"

"I take it you haven't read the paper yet this morning," Dee grumbled, afraid of how loud the chief would yell when he found out that some of HIS detectives were being listed in the newspaper as "involved with one another".

"What are you smoking, Dee, of course I've read it. I read it before I left home!"

"But you said…" Dee was astonished by the chief's lack of rage.

"I know what I said," the chief said. His voice was gentler now, as if he cared about what Dee was feeling. "I also know that, while you're obnoxious as hell, you and Ryo are some of my best detectives, and I'm not losing you to some slanderous newspaper article about your sexuality. I don't enjoy male company quite as much as you do, but that doesn't mean that you're not my best officer, Dee." There was a silence on the line that seemed thick with sympathy, and it made a lump form in Dee's throat, a lump that did not disperse even when the chief barked, "I'll give you guys an hour's leeway, but if you're not here by then I'm taking it out of your pay, got it!" and hung up on him with a clang.

Ryo walked back into the room holding two steaming mugs of coffee at the same time as Dee set the phone back on the charger.

"What did he say?" Ryo asked, setting down one mug and taking a sip of the other.

"He said we've got an hour to get to work before he starts attacking our paychecks," Dee said with a smirk. "The 27th is on our side, Ryo. We've got allies in this fight."

* * *

Hehehe…Isn't that article evil? I felt bad just writing it…; Anywayz, I'll update soon, promise…Chapter 3: Relative Discussion


	3. Relative Discussion

Hi all! I'm putting these out fast, aren't I? I hope you enjoy this chapter—please remember to R&R!

Same WARNINGS and DISCLAIMERS apply.

Chapter 3: Relative Discussion

* * *

Last time:

Ryo walked back into the room holding two steaming mugs of coffee at the same time as Dee set the phone back on the charger. 

"What did he say?" Ryo asked, setting down one mug and taking a sip of the other. 

"He said we've got an hour to get to work before he starts attacking our paychecks," Dee said with a smirk. "The 27th is on our side, Ryo. We've got allies in this fight." 

Dee and Ryo showed up at the 27th precinct within 45 minutes of the chief's call. Dee's hair was still damp from his rushed shower, and Ryo was still straightening his tie and collar when they made it to their office. On the way down the hall toward their niche in the precinct, they got a lot of sympathy from fellow officers (and from a few people they'd never seen before). Two of the longest speeches were from JJ and Drake.

"I swear, I would never say anything against you two," Drake said as he followed them into their office. "And I sure as hell didn't say anything to any reporters. What they quoted in that article was what I told you yesterday in the lounge, remember?"

"Now you mention it, yeah," said Dee pensively as he logged onto his computer. "They just replaced the 'you're' with 'Dee's', didn't they?" He scanned the article to check his theory.

"And, as you know, Dee, I would never ever _ever_ say anything bad about you," JJ assured him, though Dee wasn't listening. JJ glared at him, then added, "Or Ryo."

"Thanks, JJ," Ryo said. JJ was very obviously displeased with the fact that Ryo had answered him, but took it in stride.

"I was talking to Ted about that awhile ago, but I didn't repeat it to anyone else. I swear, Dee, I would never want to sully your name, never—"

"Ever ever, I get it, JJ," Dee said grouchily. "Now will you get the hell out of here? We have to work in here you know."

JJ turned away unhappily, but faced them again before actually leaving. "I don't know who that other quote came from, but I'm sure they didn't mean it." Then, blushing, he turned on his heel and ran from the room.

"He's the only person I've ever met who meets the criteria of the word 'fag'," Dee grumbled.

Ryo just smiled. He was about to start researching what he could of their age-old kidnapping when the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up and answered, "Detective MacClean, Homicide."

"Ryo?" a woman's voice asked. She sounded flustered. "Is that you?"

"I'm sorry, who is this speaking?" Ryo asked, wondering how she knew his Japanese name.

"It's me, Ryo! Aunt Elena!"

"Oh, hi Aunt Elena!" Ryo said cheerfully, turning away from his desk to face the wall—and hide from Dee's curious look. "How are you?"

"Cut the crap, Ryo!" she shouted with a mixture of anger and worry. "I just read the newspaper and saw that article, and I—"

"Don't," Ryo said firmly. He didn't want to think about the article anymore. It was bad enough that everyone pointed at him and Dee as they hurried to work and that everyone was wishing them sympathy inside the precinct—he didn't want to explain himself to his relatives, too.

"Ryo, please," Elena pleaded. Now her voice was full of concern. "I only wanted to ask—"

"No. Don't ask, don't try to hide under a worrisome façade. I'm not answering anything that has to do with that article."

"Just answer this for me—"

"He said don't ask, now stop asking!" Dee's voice broke over the end of Elena's question. He had been listing on the other line.

"Dee!" Ryo hissed, turning in his chair and slapping him on the shoulder. "Hang up the phone!"

"Dee?" Elena asked. "As in, Dee Laytner from the article?"

"Yeah, and what about it?" Dee shouted.

"I told you to hang up, Dee!" Ryo yelled, grabbing the receiver from his partner and slamming it down on the base. "Don't pick it up again!"

"Ryo, please," Elena said softly. "Don't cut me off, okay? All I want to ask you is if it's true."

"What?" Ryo asked stupidly. He had gotten so flared up over Dee's eavesdropping that he'd forgotten what Elena had called about.

"Are you really, you know…gay?" she asked tentatively. She sounded as though she'd just uttered some disgusting swear word.

Ryo was quiet for a long time. He didn't want to lie; it would break his promise to Dee about being open about his sexuality—not to mention she already knew and just wanted to hear him say it. But he couldn't just say "yes"; he had grown up with this woman, so it was a lot like coming out to a parent. He wished he was talking to her face to face.

"Why do you need me to tell you?" he finally answered. "You said you read the article; why don't you believe it?"

"Don't you remember anything I taught you?" she said exasperatedly. "Cops, lawyers, and reporters—you can't trust any of them, they're all pigs. Except you, anyway," she added quickly. "I just need to see if it's true—from the horse's mouth, you know?"

Ryo took a deep breath, glanced at Dee (who had picked up the receiver again to listen), and finally answered:

"Yes, Aunt Elena. I'm gay." He heard Dee slam the receiver back onto the stand and watched him punch the air and start spinning in his swivel chair. He suppressed a giggle and instead turned his attention back to Elena, who had yet to answer.

"Well…" She sounded like she wasn't sure how to respond. "I…I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't say anything—Dee, stop spinning around, you just hit me with your foot!—you don't need to. I'm gay, Dee is my partner, and the article is true. But the 'quotes' they have there from my coworkers aren't real. They're taken out of context, and none of them were actually given to any reporters. Someone has been sneaking around and eavesdropping on conversations to get dirt on us." Ryo took a breath and went on. It felt great being so honest about this stuff—now he understood why most gay people were so flamboyant. "But it's still me, Aunt Elena. It's still the same Ryo."

There was a silence on the phone for a few moments, then: "Ryo, I'm gonna support you through all of this. I'm not gonna get all retarded and g—I mean, stupid, and abandon you. I'm here, always, if you need me. You know that right?"

"Of course I do, Aunt Elena," Ryo said, smiling.

"Well, good!" she said haughtily, sounding more and more like her normal self. "And don't you forget it, either! Is there anything I can do? Should I come out there for a while?"

"You can if you want to, you don't have to by any means."

"I think I will, actually. I've got a couple weeks' vacation starting tomorrow, and I _do_ have to approve of this 'Dee' guy, right?"

"Right," Ryo laughed. They made arrangements for him to pick her up at the airport and agreed (because of Ryo's insistence) that she would stay at Ryo's place. As he hung up, Ryo saw that Dee was still spinning in his chair.

"You admitted it!" Dee shouted. He stopped spinning and pointed at Ryo, who blushed a little but still nodded. "You told your AUNT that you were gay! _And_ that you were with _me_!"

"Well, it's no use trying to keep it a secret anymore, is it?" Ryo said, scrolling down on his computer files.

"That's not the point and you know it!" Dee said angrily.

"Yeah, I know it," Ryo said, giving him a sideways glance. "But it's still a good excuse."

Dee grinned, and Ryo knew that he wished he could pounce on him at that very moment. But even horny Dee knew that they had to be good little boys as long as they were at work—they'd gotten enough bad press as it was.

* * *

Hehehe…kinda uplifting, right? And Aunt Elena will be in (at least!) the next chapter, if not more than that. But don't expect it to be all happy for long…if you hated Chapter 2, your gonna hate later chapters…; Sorry, friends!


	4. A Picture's Worth a Thousand Tears

Hello, adoring fans! Okay, that's a bit excessive, but whatever. I hope this chapter is good for everyone. I know the last one was sorta short, but whatever (do I say that too much? Oh well…) Anywayz, I think this will be a decent chapter—don't forget to read and review!

Same warnings and disclaimers apply.

Chapter 4: A Picture's Worth a Thousand Tears

* * *

Last time:

"You admitted it!" Dee shouted. He stopped spinning and pointed at Ryo, who blushed a little but still nodded. "You told your AUNT that you were gay! And that you were with me!"

"_Well, it's no use trying to keep it a secret anymore, is it?" Ryo said, scrolling down on his computer files. _

"_That's not the point and you know it!" Dee said angrily. _

"_Yeah, I know it," Ryo said, giving him a sideways glance. "But it's still a good excuse." _

_Dee grinned, and Ryo knew that he wished he could pounce on him at that very moment. But even horny Dee knew that they had to be good little boys as long as they were at work—they'd gotten enough bad press as it was. _

Dee stood in the bathroom of Ryo's apartment staring at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't remember a time when he looked this bad—his skin was pale and clammy, his usually voluminous black hair was stringy and lank, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't slept very well the night before, and for some reason he just couldn't get himself to look right. Even his clothes didn't seem to fit him properly.

_Well, why shouldn't I look like shit?_ He thought as he swept a strand of lank hair out of his face. _I've never met a member of Ryo's family before—hell, the only person I know having to do with Ryo is Ryo! I mean he knows Penguin and the rest of the orphanage, but I don't know anything about him…_

He shook his head violently, trying to shake off his feelings of isolation from his system—it was bad enough that he looked like shit, he didn't need to be all preoccupied too.

He heard the door open and the sounds of Ryo and his aunt floated to him through the closed door of the bathroom. _Oh, shit, they're here._ Ryo had told him to just be himself around…

_Wait, what was her name?_ He cursed himself under his breath as he leaned on the sink for support. He could only vaguely register that Ryo was calling for him from the other room.

The door to the bathroom opened and Ryo came in. Dee saw him in the mirror and turned to face him, still holding the sink for support.

"Dee, are you okay?" Ryo asked, placing his and on Dee's shoulder.

"No, I…I feel really nervous," Dee admitted. He explained about not knowing anything about Ryo's family while Ryo knew his. Ryo only smiled and shook his head.

"Well, this would be a good time to _get to know_ my family, wouldn't it?" He leaned up a little and kissed his lightly on the lips. Dee's body seemed to light up at this gesture, and he felt immediately better. When Ryo pulled away, he brushed his thumb against Dee's cheek and said, "Just be you. She'll know it if you try to act phony."

Then he opened the door and led Dee out by the hand.

"Aunt Elena!" he called into the house—Elena was not in the living room where he had apparently left her. Dee noted that Ryo had said "Aunt" like "awe-nt", not "ant", like the bug. He didn't know why that struck him, he supposed it was just something he hadn't really heard before. He caught sight of the woman as she rounded the corner of Ryo's immaculate kitchen.

"Holy crap, Ryo! How do manage to keep your kitchen so freakin' clean?" she exclaimed as she swept her index finger over the spotless surface of the counter. "I outta send your uncle down here to learn from you. I swear the man's never heard the word 'mop' before in his life!" She didn't seem to realize that Dee was there.

"Er, Aunt Elena?" Ryo said, waving his hand pointedly at Dee.

She turned and seemed to notice him standing there for the first time.

"Oh, right," she said, ceasing her compliments on Ryo's apartment immediately. "I almost forgot I was here for a reason."

Dee was instantly reminded of JJ. _Shit…I hope that saying is all they have in common, otherwise I'll be in trouble._

Elena walked forward quickly and stuck her hand out in front of Dee, staring straight into Dee's face, almost defiantly.

"I'm Elena, Ryo's aunt. It's nice meet you face to face, Dee." She spoke clearly, as though his ability to "speak fag" would cloud his understanding of English.

"Er, right," Dee said, taking her hand and holding only briefly before releasing it. "Dee Laytner. Nice to meet you, too."

She smiled and nodded, then made herself comfortable on the couch. "So," she said. "I guess I'll start my whole 'parental' thing now, right?" She crossed her legs, and Dee was reminded again of the only thing worse than JJ: Diana Spacey, an FBI agent from LA with whom they had worked a few cases before. She used to give him that look—that almost condescending, borderline-obnoxious look that gave you the distinct feeling of being tested. It was a look he detested, and hoped it would only be directed at him this one time.

"How long have you known Ryo?" she asked.

_I hope it stays this easy,_ Dee thought. "Two years."

"How long have you been partners with him—at the NYPD, I mean."

"Two years—why don't you know all this from Ryo?"

"I need to make sure your answers match." She shifted on the couch, then resumed her interrogation. "How long have you been…involved?"

"One year." Dee was starting to get annoyed. "Do you want the exact dates of everything, too?" He saw Ryo blush deeply out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, now you mention it…" Elena seemed genuinely interested now.

"Aunt Elena!" Ryo shouted, his voice cracking a little.

"First day we met: November 27th, two years ago; first kiss: November 29th, two years ago; first discussion of mutual feelings: December 24th and 25th, two years ago; first fuck—"

"_Dee!_" Ryo's entire face was a deep shade of maroon. "Stop it!"

"No," Dee answered, looking directly into Ryo's dark eyes. "She wants all the facts, I'll give them to her. But she'll be in for a rude awakening if she expects our stories to coincide—I'd be willing to bet you don't remember the exact date of all our milestones." Dee stood up from the chair he had sunk into and stalked over to the counter where he had previously discarded his keys. "I'm going home. I'll see you at work tomorrow." And he slammed the door on the way out.

* * *

Ryo stood in front of the door leading into the hallway from his apartment. He didn't know how to react. He had never seen Dee blow up like that before about anyone but JJ or Commissioner Rose.

And why about Aunt Elena? She was just trying to make sure Dee was a good person.

"What the _hell_ is his problem?" Aunt Elena asked from behind him on the couch. "I didn't think you'd go for someone so touchy."

Ryo's stomach clenched at Aunt Elena's harsh words. Dee was _anything_ but touchy—grouchy, maybe, and certainly sensitive, but "touchy" was not a comparable word to either description.

"I mean, geez! You'd think I was asking for every detail! I didn't mean to offend anybody, really. I guess I just didn't think you'd ever go for someone like him."

"Is it only because Dee is a _man_ that you wanted all this information?" Ryo asked curtly, trying his best not to blow up at his aunt. "I remember bringing dates home when I was in high school, but I don't recall you interrogating them like this."

"Okay, he's a guy and it's freakin' me out," Aunt Elena said suddenly. "I can't help it, Ryo. You're like the son I never had, and I only want what's best for you. I didn't mean to sound mean, I just wanted to know how far you'd gone and whether you were happy. That's all. I didn't want to ruin anything for you, I swear."

"If you weren't out for so much information, why did you tell him to continue when he offered dates?" Ryo asked sharply. He was having trouble buying Aunt Elena's story.

"Well, I—"

"Ryo!" Dee burst back into Ryo's living room, looking livid and quite out of breath. He was holding a magazine in one hand.

"What the hell…?" Ryo stood before Dee, looking bewildered. He helped his lover sit on the couch before he fell. Before he could ask what had happened, Dee shoved the magazine under his nose.

"READ!" Dee ordered breathlessly.

Ryo looked at the magazine and his eyes widened to the size of silver dollars. He had to read the headline six times before it set in:

"EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS BEHIND THE GAY NYPD SCANDAL"

Below the headline was a black and white picture of him and Dee, kissing passionately, on top of his own desk at the 27th precinct. Ryo opened the magazine and started leafing through it for the right page. When he found it, he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't read the captions or the article itself; he couldn't even bear to look at the pictures. He thrust the magazine at Dee, trying to distance himself from it as much as possible, but it was too late—the images were already burned into his mind.

There were four pictures along with the article, all full color. One was a colored version of the magazine cover, which brought out the obviousness of the passion between them. Ryo had realized in the resolution of the photo that he was shirtless, and that he was unfastening Dee's belt and the button of his pants. Below it, the caption read: _Even in the workplace, these two detectives can't keep their hands off each other._

The second picture was of them in the bathroom only two nights before. Dee was planting kisses all down Ryo's stomach, and they were both completely nude (save for a small black censuring bar covering each of them).

The third was less risqué, though it was no help to their cause. Dee was standing in front of Ryo's mirror wearing only jeans blow-drying his thick black hair, which was very obviously wet because of the nearby shower. Ryo was close by in the photo, and looked as though he was trying to decide which tie to wear with the shirt he had on, which was only half-buttoned. He hadn't been able to catch all of it, but the caption beneath it contained the phrase "steamy shower sessions".

The fourth was not revealing at all. In fact, when he had first glimpsed it, he had thought it was just himself and Dee walking down the hall, which it was—except that Dee's hand had been caught in the middle of an obvious swatting movement near Ryo's ass, and Ryo's face gave the whole thing away. The addition of Drake and JJ to the background didn't help matters either.

_What the hell is happening?_ Ryo thought desperately as he fought off vomiting. _Why is this happening to us?_ Ryo put his hand firmly over his mouth. He leaned back a little, closing his eyes and hoping that easing his bodily tension would in turn ease his writhing stomach. He opened his eyes and realized in horror that Aunt Elena had gotten hold of the magazine and was examining the pages carefully.

"'Detectives Dee Laytner and Randy "Ryo" MacClean of the now infamous 27th precinct just don't seem able to stop their sacrilegious antics.'" She read aloud. "'The pictures above indicate that Laytner and MacClean can't keep their hands off each other, inside the office or otherwise. What one can assume by these photos is that the 27th is not doing enough to keep these detectives in line. We receive thousands of letters here and at our newspaper headquarters from angry New Yorkers daily requesting the separation of these officers and/or their removal from their positions at the NYPD. Why won't the police department take the hint and fire these two blaspheming detectives? We may never know.' Geez, dramatic much?" she finished dryly, tossing the magazine aside and slumping back into the couch.

Ryo couldn't take anymore. He lurched forward before he could even try to stop himself and vomited. He sat doubled over and just kept throwing up uncontrollably, with Dee muttering encouraging things to him and rubbing his back gently. When there was nothing left in his system, Ryo just sat there, shuddering and moaning, cold sweat covering his face. Dee kept rubbing his back, two fingers gently up and down along his spine.

"It's okay, Babe, it's okay," he said softly. "That's it, you'll be all right now, just breathe…"

"I'll go get some rags and help clean this up," Ryo heard his aunt say as she stood and rushed to the kitchen.

Dee pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and started dabbing at the sides of Ryo's mouth—it was only spit, but Ryo knew that Dee wouldn't have wanted to see him that way. Ryo sat up shakily, his shoulders still trembling a little from retching. He looked straight at Dee, searching for sense and reason that he knew he would find in his lover's eyes.

He reached out and grasped Dee's shirt. Dee put his arm around Ryo's shoulder and pulled him into his arms. Ryo settled with his head resting peacefully against Dee's chest. He listened to Dee's even breathing as he whispered over and over "It's okay, it's all over. Now just breathe."

Ryo closed his eyes, trying to fall into a rhythm with Dee's breathing. But every breath he took got more and more shaky. The pictures still burned on the inside of his closed eyelids; he remembered the harsh words of the previous article and the supposed "quotes" offered by JJ and Drake. Nothing made sense anymore, nothing was fair or reasonable anymore, and he now, with these pictures published for the world to see, there was no hiding who he was or what he was. He couldn't hide, he couldn't logic his way out. All his normal escape routes had been completely cut off. And now, after trying and trying he couldn't do it anymore. He held Dee closer to him, took a deep breath…

And began to cry.

* * *

Elena came back from the kitchen with a handful of large rags that looked like they'd been around the block a few times. She walked around the edge of the couch to where the pool of sick was so she could mop it up with the towels. She knelt down beside the couch and laid a couple of the rags on the mess. When she looked up to reach for another towel, however, she saw Ryo sobbing while wrapped within Dee's arms.

She froze for a moment as she gazed upon her weeping nephew. She had never seen Ryo cry like that before. She had always assumed that he'd cried the night his parents died, but she'd never actually witnessed it. It was unnerving.

Ryo had been eighteen when his parents died and Elena and her husband took him in. Though he was so young, she had always sensed a strength in him that she had never seen falter. There was just this flame inside him, and, though he hid it most of the time, it was the brightest and hardest to put out.

But now…

Watching him sob into Dee's chest, with Dee sitting there holding him for comfort, she saw all of the walls he'd built up since his parents' death fall away. He seemed to have been cleansed and opened by Dee. Though she didn't know the man, she felt a connection to him, one that she could only have expressed as mutual guardianship over Ryo. He was her nephew, his boyfriend, both of their cherished relationships.

* * *

Don't you just hate the media? I know I do, especially in this fanfic. I'm starting to feel bad for putting Ryo and Dee through all this crap, but it's necessary—and besides, what's a good story without some suffering? ; j/k Anywayz, yeah! R&R! 


	5. Restaurant Food Sucks Anyway

Cooie! Hi everybody! Sorry I haven't written in so long. Not long after I updated this last I started high school and I just haven't had ANY time to write a thing besides reports and other homework! But, I'm it's Christmas Break now and I hope you will enjoy this new chapter. R&R after you're done!

Same warnings and disclaimers apply. Btw, the restaurant is called _Le Fin_ coz I couldn't think of anything else (it's from Cowboy Bebop . ;

Chapter 5: Restaurant Food Sucks Anyway

* * *

Last time:

_Ryo had been eighteen when his parents died and Elena and her husband took him in. Though he was so young, she had always sensed a strength in him that she had never seen falter. There was just this flame inside him, and, though he hid it most of the time, it was the brightest and hardest to put out. _

_But now…_

Watching him sob into Dee's chest, with Dee sitting there holding him for comfort, she saw all of the walls he'd built up since his parents' death fall away. He seemed to have been cleansed and opened by Dee. Though she didn't know the man, she felt a connection to him, one that she could only have expressed as mutual guardianship over Ryo. He was her nephew, his boyfriend, both of their cherished relationships.

"Here you go," Elena said as she handed Ryo, who wrapped in a large blanket, a steaming mug of chamomile tea. "Hopefully this will calm your stomach a little."

"Thanks Aunt Elena," Ryo murmured, taking the mug. He took a few tentative sips, wincing at its heat.

"Where did you find this damn thing, anyway, Dee?" Elena asked, picking up the magazine—which Ryo now noticed was the _National Enquirer_—and thumbing through it to the article again. Ryo looked quickly away.

"Just some newsstand nearby, I can show you later if you want," Dee answered, snatching the magazine from Elena and tossing it into a box near the trash can in the kitchen—which had been affectionately provided by Ryo and named "Dee's Target Practice". This way Dee could shoot his gun all he wanted and only be shooting at something totally unnecessary.

"Hell yes I want you to show me!" Elena exploded. "I'm gonna sue that fucking magazine and every stand that sells it!"

"That's not going to do anything, Aunt Elena," Ryo said, setting his molten tea on a coaster on the coffee table. "All that'll do is make the TV start running the report. God, just what we need, a story on the 7 o'clock news." He rubbed his forehead at the thought of it.

"So you're just gonna sit here and let them slander you? It's against the law, Ryo—"

"Freedom of press," Ryo responded bluntly.

"Freedom of press only goes so far. It ceases to be a freedom when the story is set up only to publicly humiliate or slander someone. Then it's attacking the person's right to freedom of speech."

"Woah," Dee said in awe. "We're cops, but you know the Constitution better than we do."

"I'm a history teacher, I have to know that kind of stuff." She smiled.

"Look, I'm all for the Constitution, but I don't want this getting blown out of proportion by television," Ryo answered. He sat up straighter, as if he thought Elena might listen to him if he was taller. "Isn't it bad enough that we're in the newspaper _and_ a magazine?"

"I wonder if people will actually believe it?" Dee muttered, staring at the box longingly, as if he wanted to tape up the pictures within the magazine and shoot them full of holes that moment.

"Why wouldn't they?" Ryo asked.

"The _National Enquirer_ is notorious for writing bunk stories," Dee responded matter-of-factly. "They led the campaign against the government when all that UFO buzz started, and I've seen them write front-page stories about shit like 'Boy-Bats' and mummies just by doctoring up a picture of that Gollum thing from _Lord of the Rings_. I doubt anyone will even think those photos are real."

Ryo seemed to consider this fact or a moment. He felt slightly more embarrassed about his sickly reaction to the stories now that he knew they probably wouldn't be taken seriously. "I guess you have a point, but…"

"No buts," Aunt Elena said with an air of finality in her voice. "I don't think this is anything to get extremely worked up about—unless you're reconsidering my legal action idea—so let's all go out and get something to eat real quick. You don't have to Ryo," she added quickly, suddenly recalling Ryo's response to his original reading of the article.

"No, actually, I think that's a good idea, Aunt Elena," Ryo said, smiling slightly.

"Cool, coz I'm starving!" She seemed to take on the air of a schoolgirl—much like Bikky's sort-of girlfriend Carol. This thought made Dee shudder.

* * *

Dee, Ryo, and Elena walked down the street from Dee's car—which they had only taken after much protesting on Ryo's part—toward a bar-and-grill type restaurant called _Le Fin_. Dee and Ryo had been there a few times, but were hardly regulars, so they thought it would be enough of a change to be interesting (but not, as Dee had put it, so weird that they would end up eating slugs).

"Hey, er, three people," Dee said as they walked inside to ask for a table. The waitress nearby didn't notice them, and the host wouldn't look up from the magazine he had propped against the cash register.

"Excuse me? We need a table," Ryo said, placing his hand lightly on the desk.

"Sorry, fresh out of those," the host said smugly, slapping Ryo's hand with a pencil while still not looking up from his reading. The waitress behind him giggled, peeking over his shoulder at his magazine.

"Yo, dude, we are three hungry people and we need a freakin' table," Dee said angrily. "Now either lead us to one or we'll leave and give our business to some other _competing_ diner." He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, as if expecting the host to leap up and usher them off.

He did no such thing. He simply looked up and sneered his response while staring straight at Dee. "We don't have any tables. I guess you'll just have to leave." His voice was high-pitched and he had a slight lisp, much like JJ.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Dee fumed. Ryo grabbed his sleeve and tried to pull him away. Dee swatted him aside.

"It's just our policy, sir. I'm afraid we don't cater to people like you." The waitress took a few steps toward the desk, standing beside him.

"Well I think you've got a pretty fuckin' ridiculous policy. What is it exactly?" Dee's shoulders were shaking.

"'Don't cater to those who cause public disturbances or take part in non-mainstream activities, such as criminals, uncouth celebrities, and homosexuals.'" The waitress smiled in triumph. "Obviously, that means you two," she added, pointing to Dee and Ryo.

"How can your policy be not to cater to gays when you're a goddamn fag yourself?" Dee asked viciously.

"Well, I…I mean, I'm not…" He looked nervously at the waitress, who was now staring at him with a mixture of shock and disgust on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about," he finally answered lamely.

"I'm talking about the fact that you're standing here in a public restaurant, denying me entrance because I'm gay, even though you're gay yourself, which _really_ pisses me off," Dee said, trying not to leap over the desk and strangle the man.

"Wha-what?" the host stuttered, taking a step back. He turned to the waitress and muttered something about excusing himself, then walked briskly from behind the desk and pushed Dee outside. Ryo and Elena followed, intrigued.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the host was saying once they all arrived outside. "Why are you saying things like that where my coworkers can hear?"

"Coz I wanted them to know they've got a puff working with them even though they're trying so hard to weed them all out."

"But you'll get me fired!"

"Then you should have gotten me a fucking table when I first came in!"

"All right fine, I'll try to get you one, but now you've announced you're definitely gay you're more likely to get run out of the restaurant by the customers than by the staff." When he noticed Dee's quizzical expression, he hurriedly explained: "We're famous for that policy about no gays—it makes us a great family place for devout Catholics who think homosexuality is a sin."

"Whatever," Dee scoffed. "I was raised in a Catholic orphanage by a Catholic nun, and she always told me that it was more important for me to be myself and be happy than worry about things like gender."

"Well, then you grew up in better surroundings than most." He stared at his feet, and Ryo thought he saw traces of sadness in his face.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else, Dee," Ryo suggested. "There are plenty of nice but still cheap places to eat in New York."

"Erm, you might want to consider take-out," the host said, still not looking up from his shoes. "I had to act like a major snob to you because of the _National Enquirer_. I dunno if you've seen it, but—"

"We have, thanks," Elena said suddenly, cutting the man off before he could remind Ryo of the article enough that he would throw up again.

"Oh. Well, all I'm saying is that every homophobe in the city is worshipping it right now because it's proving how awful gays are. I'm just saying that you should watch your back."

"Thanks for the advice," Dee said sulkily. "C'mon Ryo, Elena, let's go. There's always Chines, right?" He smiled sadly, but still hopefully.

"All right," Ryo murmured. Elena took his arm and started to lead him away from _Le Fin_.

"Oh, erm, by the way…" the host muttered just before Dee turned away. "I think, well…what I mean is…"

"Spit it out, will ya?" Dee said moodily. He was beyond hungry now.

"Well…you guys are my heroes," the man said, looking down to examine his feet again.

Dee stood dumb struck for a moment, then smiled and walked up to the man. He put his hand on the man's shoulder so he would look at him, then kissed him lightly on the forehead. The man's face turned bright red—much like Ryo's used to—and he smiled widely.

"Don't let stupid people bring you down, kid," Dee said, smiling encouragingly at the man. "Just coz all those people in there don't realize that guys go better with other guys doesn't mean you have to hide the fact that you do. Oh, and if this shit hole fires you…" He whipped out a business card. "…gimme a call and I'll set you up in a place where you'll be accepted." He smiled wider, then turned and left.

"Where the hell have you been?" Elena asked as Dee rounded the corner toward his car where she and Ryo were waiting for him.

"Giving inspiration, milady, giving inspiration," Dee answered coyly.

Ryo looked up at him, wearing a puzzled expression.

Dee only smiled. "I'll explain later," he said, then leaned down slightly and kissed his love tenderly on the lips. Ryo froze for a moment, glancing quickly at Aunt Elena before giving into the kiss and kissing his lover back. It wasn't like anyone was watching anyway.

* * *

A mere twelve feet away, on the roof of _Le Fin_, a man crouched, clicking away with his pocket sized camera. He looked at the pictures he had taken previously, grinning at his beautiful photography. He couldn't wait to see the _Enquirer_'s face when he brought these in—especially the ones he'd set up with the dimwit host of the restaurant.

* * *

Ok, so we all officially hate the press, right? Good. Again, sorry it took me so long to update, but hopefully this was a fulfilling chapter. R&R people! I love you all! 


	6. Smoke and Suspicion with a Hint of Lemon

All right all right, I know I've taken forever! I have no time to write anymore, and when I DO have time, I have no inspiration or ability. Being a fanfiction author is hard work, ya know! . Anyway, I hope this chapter will be good enough to fulfill the desire you've had for my artistic writing! (yeah right… lol) Anywayz, read and review—and be honest!

Oh, btw—there's a lemon in this chapter! We all know I'm not the best lemon writer, but I tried really hard and I think it's really good! TT Agree with me!

This chapter (this whole story really) is dedicated to Nari-chan. You're my world—the queen the goddess, my inspiration. I love you, girlie.

Same warnings and disclaimers apply, even after all this time.

Chapter 6: Smoke and Suspicion, with a Hint of Lemon

---

Last time:

_Dee only smiled. "I'll explain later," he said, then leaned down slightly and kissed his love tenderly on the lips. Ryo froze for a moment, glancing quickly at Aunt Elena before giving into the kiss and kissing his lover back. It wasn't like anyone was watching anyway. _

A mere twelve feet away, on the roof of Le Fin, a man crouched, clicking away with his pocket sized camera. He looked at the pictures he had taken previously, grinning at his beautiful photography. He couldn't wait to see the Enquirer's face when he brought these in—especially the ones he'd set up with the dimwit host of the restaurant.

Dee, Ryo, and Elena walked down the oil-stained New York street towards the 27th precinct three days after the incident in Le Fin—Dee and Ryo heading to work, Elena heading to what she thought would be a fun-filled tour of her nephew's workplace.

Once inside the precinct (which, Elena noticed right away, swelled of stale coffee and eternal ashtray), Elena started swooning or scolding over every minute detail of the room. ("It smells, in here." "Look! Handcuffs!" "Omigod, is he really carrying a gun!") Ryo tried to laugh it off, but his forced happiness evaporated at the sight of his coworkers, Ted, Drake, and—worst of all—JJ, walking towards them.

"Hey Dee, Ryo, how's it hangin'?" Drake asked immediately, clapping hands with Dee in a brotherly sort of way.

"Ah, a little to the—ow!" Dee began, interrupted by a swift kick in the ankle by Ryo. "What the fuck, Ryo!"

"Sorry, accident," Ryo lied.

Drake and Dee's morning ritual had become one of them asking, "How's in hangin'?" and the other replying with, "Ah, little to the left." It was funny the first time, when it had been original, but they'd long since killed the joke. Not to mention Elena was here, and Ryo didn't want her getting a worse idea of his job than she already had.

"So Dee…" JJ started, fluttering his violet eyelashes lightly. "What have you been up to lately? You weren't in all weekend." He latched onto Dee's arm and tugged him away into the foray of people coming and going throughout the station.

Ryo's eyes burned in anger for a brief moment, but the anger dissipated when he saw Dee look pleadingly over his shoulder and mouth, "I love you" to him over JJ's loving blabbering. Ryo could only smile.

"Who the fuck is that fa—" Elena asked haughtily, catching herself in the middle of what Ryo could only assume was the word "fag". She hunched her shoulders a little and looked at him with a look of pleading forgiveness. Ryo smiled at her.

"Don't worry, Aunt Elena," he said warmly. "I don't care what words you use, just don't direct them at me or Dee, or at our relationship. Okay?"

"Aye aye," she said, saluting lamely. Ryo laughed.

At least she's trying to understand, Ryo thought. "Want to see our office?"

"Hell yeah!" Elena exclaimed with excitement Ryo didn't know she possessed.

They walked down the crowded hallway towards Dee and Ryo's office, with Elena asking questions and mile a minute and Ryo trying calmly to answer them. When Ryo opened the door to the office room he and Dee shared, he found Dee slumped over at his desk, with his arms folded on the keyboard and his head on top of them, sound asleep.

Elena started to say something about Dee being a lazy bastard and how safe she felt knowing this was the state of the law enforcement in New York, but her words died in her throat as she watched Ryo's face change. She had expected to see frustration or at least annoyance written in the thin lines of his face, but all she saw was exasperated affection. No, not even that. It was love she read in his expression, love for the man sleeping before him. Elena's face drooped a little at this, but not in disappointment, merely in surprise.

She watched Ryo kneel by Dee's side and lay his hand on his partner's shoulder. He gave him a little shake, but to no avail. Ryo glanced quickly over his shoulder at his aunt, who smiled at him, and promptly turned back and kissed Dee lightly in the corner of his mouth.

Dee's heavily lashed eyes fluttered open and slowly focused on Ryo's face so near to his and smiled back at him. In the background of the tender moment, Elena smiled too.

---

Elena eventually decided to wander off to explore the precinct by herself after watching the two policemen doing nothing but computer research and paperwork for fifteen minutes. Once she'd gone, Dee turned to Ryo with a concerned look in his eye.

"Ryo? Can I ask you something?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course, Dee, you don't have to ask," Ryo responded, not looking up from his forms.

"Well, I just wanted to ask…." He hesitated, then pressed on slowly. "I wanted to know if you think we might know the person who's doing all this shit to us."

Ryo's head snapped up, his eyes fixed on Dee's. "I never really thought about it, but I guess it's possible," he answered, his cool façade breaking by the hurried pace of his speech. "Why?"

"Well," Dee continued, glad to have gotten an answer that didn't repel his inquiry, "I was just thinking that it had to be someone we knew, or they wouldn't know where we worked or lived, right? And also, I figure we're cops, so we've got some enemies and they or their families might be holding a grudge. If any of those enemies aren't behind bars, then they'd know our precinct and how to find it, right? And if they are bad guys, they'd have no problem stealing files, so they'd find out where we live. It just seems too possible to ignore." He stared at his lover, waiting for a response.

Ryo swallowed hard, taking in what Dee had just described. It was possible, very possible. After all, Leo's wife wasn't behind bars, and neither were many of his associates. Anyone connected to Leo could have decided to seek revenge for his death. Not to mention all the other murderers and drug dealers they'd collared. It was a frightening possibility Ryo hadn't assessed.

"It does sound reasonable…" Ryo whispered, his eyes leaving Dee's and studying the ground below him.

"More than reasonable," Dee urged. "More like fucking plausible! If there's anyone who would want to get back at us it's someone we tagged. No one likes being taken out of the game, Ryo; we've sent a lot of players to time-out."

Despite the overused game reference, Ryo agreed. But who had connections to both undercover cameramen and the media? Only Leo had pull like that, and he was dead. Somehow, he couldn't see many people staying loyal to Leo's rotting corpse.

"So who are you thinking?" Ryo asked, sure Dee had been on to something specific.

"I'm not sure…" Dee paused, afraid to say something that would anger his ever-fragile Ryo. "But I think there might be someone we're not thinking of correctly."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

Dee turned his computer screen so his partner could see. "Here's someone that was collared before either of us even entered the Academy, but he's certainly got a possible grudge against us, right?"

"Dee, you can't be serious!" Ryo wouldn't believe the screen in front of him.

"I'm entirely serious!" Dee shouted in defense. "He's a snide bastard!"

"He wouldn't want us! Wouldn't it make more sense to slander the people who actually collared him?"

"Come on, you know he doesn't always make sense!" Dee growled. "Besides, other than the original conviction, he was also a suspect in the murder and slander cases against many different policemen from all over the country, mostly LA and New York PD. He got off on everything they charged him with, from homicide to stalking, but he was still considered dangerous. And by the time he'd started getting accused of the crimes against the officers, he'd joined the—"

"Dee, this is ridiculous!" Ryo snapped, turning back to his paperwork. "You're only coming up with this because you think he likes me! You're just trying to make him leave, like you have from the moment you met him." He glared at his lover over the top of his glasses.

"No I'm not," Dee said adamantly. "I really mean this. He's high-ranking enough to have some persuasion over the press, and he's got a dirty enough past to be able to find some scumbag photographer. I'm telling you, Ryo, I've found our guy, and his name is—"

"Anyone want coffee?" Elena asked as she sprang jovially into the office. "I brought some for all of us, so you better want it. Oh, Ryo I just love your coworkers!" She sat on Ryo's desk and stared rambling endlessly about something JJ had said or Drake had done.

While she talked, Ryo stared Dee down, trying to tell him through his look not to get worked up about his supposed lead.

­

After all, what could Commissioner Berkeley Rose have to do with anything?

---

Ryo sat on the couch in his living room after work, sipping coffee from a china mug. Dee was in the bathroom washing his face and hands. Ryo stared at the ceiling and sighed, clutching the mug to his chest. 

After Dee explained his reasoning about pinning the Commissioner with their public slander, Ryo had been going over in his mind how best to reason Dee out f his delusions. Dee and Commissioner Rose had never gotten along (understatement of the century!), but would that mutual dislike lead Dee to false conclusions about their attacker? Or, worse, would it lead Rose to actually doing what Dee was accusing him of.

Ryo closed his eyes and lightly rubbed his eyelids with his index finger and thumb. Thinking about their media unfriendly problem always made his head hurt. When he opened his eyes, Dee was standing in front of him.

Ryo missed a breath as he stared up at his partner, taking in his perfect physique and astonishing face. From below the fullness of Dee's lips was more apparent than it had ever been, and his long, dark eyelashes seemed to rim his beautiful green eyes more lusciously than he'd ever seen them. He could also see where Dee's hair had gotten wet from washing his face, and the sight of Dee's hair wet had always intrigued and tantalized him. Ryo felt his mouth go slightly slack as he stared and his hand on the coffee mug loosened dangerously.

"Dee…" he choked quietly, setting the mug on the side table without realizing he was doing so. Then he reached out and took hold of his lover's hands with his own, savoring the roughness of his freshly washed hands. He tugged on them slightly, and that was all it took. Dee was upon him in a nanosecond, attacking his mouth and smothering it with a deep, passionate kiss filled with longing. They hadn't so much as hugged significantly since the articles started, and less than that since Elena had arrived, so this moment, and all the ones that might or might not follow, was making up for the ones they'd skipped in the last week. And oh how much they'd missed.

Without realizing it had happened, Dee was straddling Ryo on the couch and yanking his lover's shirt over his head, having already discarded his own. Their lips weren't separate for long though, for Dee immediately continued his onslaught of kisses, his tongue entering and roaming Ryo's mouth easily and without objection. He was soon trailing kisses down his lover's throat and coating the corner between his neck and shoulder in sweet saliva, sending Ryo into a whirl of passion and pleasure.

He felt the roughness of Dee's callused fingers roaming all over his chest and stomach before eventually reaching his belt. Without asking for the consent he knew he would get, Dee's hands worked relentlessly to unhook the buckle of Ryo's belt without making himself detach his hips from his love's neck. Ryo was groaning consistently now, which meant he was about to go over the edge with need. Dee was more than ready to consent.

Ryo felt the fabric of his trousers being lowered and bucked his hips in excitement. He set his own hands to work unbuttoning Dee's jeans and lowering those, although he was having trouble with it in his position. Dee realized Ryo's dilemma and stop removing Ryo's pants and helped him start removing his own.

Just as his jeans were reaching his nether-regions, the door opened suddenly and Elena burst into the room carrying bags of groceries.

"The lines were horrendous, that's why I took so—"

She dropped the grocery bags in her arms, fruits and containers spilling onto the floor. Dee and Ryo were frozen in their position, Ryo's arms clutching Dee's neck and Dee's hands hooked into his jeans and boxers. Elena couldn't move either, she just stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before her. She knew they were together, and knew they'd had sex thanks to the articles, but she'd never expected to come face to face with the circumstances.

"Ah…I…I mean…" She couldn't speak, nor could she turn away.

Ryo recovered from the stupor first, immediately releasing Dee and yanking his own trousers back up to cover all unsightly areas. He pushed Dee off him gently and stood up, standing slightly in front of Dee so he could pull up his jeans without the possibility of anything showing.

"Er, Aunt Elena, I…we…"

"Believe me, Ryo, I know what you were doing! You don't need to explain that to me!" She knelt swiftly and started re-packing the grocery bags. Ryo bent to help her and she immediately refused the help.

"Please don't be mad at me, Aunt Elena," Ryo pleaded, his eyes wide with fear and apology.

Elena looked up, somewhat confused. Then her eyes widened I realization of what he was saying and she launched into explanation. "No, no, Ryo, I wasn't mad, I was just surprised! I would have acted the same to walking in on anyone getting it on, not just you two!" She was flustered, shoving the remainder of the groceries into the paper bags, then snatching Dee's keys from the counter.

"Where are you going?" Ryo asked, shocked to see her leaving again.

"Where do you think I'm going? I'm going to Dee's for the night. I'll put the food in the fridge and sleep on the couch." She winked. "You two have fun now!" She then turned and retreated to the hall and, they assumed, to Dee's car and apartment.

Dee blinked. "Well, that was accepting of her."

"Yeah, it was." Ryo's heart was racing a mile a minute.

"I can honestly say I wouldn't have expected her to be so calm."

"Yeah." Ryo took a few breaths, then turned to Dee, who was sitting on his knees on the couch. Ryo raised his eyebrow at him and smiled. He stood from his kneeling position on the floor and leaned over Dee to kiss him. "Now," he said seductively, "where were we?"

Dee smirked, then grabbed Ryo by the shoulders and shoved him onto the couch beneath himself. Their lips immediately met and their passionate kiss was rekindled in an instant. They picked up where they had left off in getting their pants off, this time succeeding in removing them along with their boxers, releasing their fiery members. As their bodies ground together in their heated passion, their members became harder and their desire more urgent.

Dee grabbed Ryo's legs and threw them over his shoulders, where Ryo eagerly locked his ankles around each other. Dee licked his fingers and quickly entered Ryo, sending shockwaves through his love's body as he prepared him for what would come. Ryo's moans echoed throughout the apartment, but he didn't care, and Dee fed off them, as if they steered him on. Once convince Ryo's entrance was ready, Dee positioned himself and slammed his whole member into him in one hard thrust. Ryo cried out louder than he ever had in his life as he felt his lover's pulsing sex inside him. Dee pulled out and slammed in hard again, causing Ryo to cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure that he could never dream of describing. Dee continued his thrusting in a hard, steady rhythm until he and Ryo both were approaching the edge.

"Dee!" Ryo cried as another thrust jammed his prostate. "C-come with me!"

Dee didn't speak, only groaned in the effort of thrusting harder to catch himself up with Ryo. After a few more hard plunges into Ryo's entrance, Dee's seed emptied into Ryo's body at the same time as Ryo coated both their stomachs in thick, white cream. Dee collapsed on top of Ryo's chest, his body trembling from exhaustion. Ryo wrapped his sweat soaked arms lightly around Dee's back and held him close. Dee snaked his arms around Ryo's waist and clutched him with all the strength he had left. Ryo let his legs fall limply on the couch, entwined in Dee's, and snuggled his sweaty face into Dee's neck. He kissed him lightly below the ear, then closed his eyes and let himself drift away.

"I love you, Ryo," he heard Dee whisper hoarsely into his ear. "Never ever forget that, because that's all that matters."

"I know, and I promise I'll never forget," Ryo murmured, fatigue catching up to him. "I love you too, Dee. And don't you ever forget that either."

He felt Dee's cheek tighten into a smile against the side of his face. "I won't." Ryo smiled too.

Somewhere, there is a man with a camera who caught all of this on film, Ryo thought as sleep washed over his body. But I don't care. He could have filmed it all and could be sending it to the news right now and I wouldn't care, because I have Dee with me. As long as he's here, I'll be strong. I'm going to fight this bullshit, and nothing will stop me anymore. I'm in love, and I'll protect that until the day I die. He hugged Dee a little tighter, then drifted off to a very peaceful sleep.

---

Okay, how was that? Lemme know RIGHT AWAY! I know you've been waiting, so go ahead! review!


	7. Good, Bad, and Ugly Press Coverage

Wow, the chapters are just pouring out of me! lol Anyway, so here we are again in New York city with our heroes being harassed at every turn.. Don't get too hopeful people—it only gets worse from here (don't hurt me! dodges oncoming barrage of flying rotten fruits) So, on with the story, eh? nervous laughter

Again, to Nariel—you're my world, I'd never have gotten here without your encouragement (or your endless nagging XD)

Same warnings and disclaimers apply. Oh yeah, and the random OCs throughout this story are mine. They're not important, but they're there, and they're MINE!

* * *

Chapter 7: Good, Bad, and Ugly Press Coverage

Last time:

"_I love you, Ryo," he heard Dee whisper hoarsely into his ear. "Never ever forget that, because that's all that matters." _

"_I know, and I promise I'll never forget," Ryo murmured, fatigue catching up to him. "I love you too, Dee. And don't _you_ ever forget that either."_

_He felt Dee's cheek tighten into a smile against the side of his face. "I won't." Ryo smiled too. _

_Somewhere, there is a man with a camera who caught all of this on film, Ryo thought as sleep washed over his body. But I don't care. He could have filmed it all and could be sending it to the news right now and I wouldn't care, because I have Dee with me. As long as he's here, I'll be strong. I'm going to fight this bullshit, and nothing will stop me anymore. I'm in love, and I'll protect that until the day I die. He hugged Dee a little tighter, then drifted off to a very peaceful sleep. _

Ryo awoke the next morning lying in his bed. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around the room for Dee, who was nowhere to be found. Ryo grabbed his bathrobe and walked out of his room to find his lost lover. When he entered the kitchen, he found Dee standing in front of the counter in his boxers, stirring the usual mountains of sugar into his coffee with a teaspoon. Ryo smiled as he sneaked up behind his oblivious partner and gave him a soft kiss on the back of the neck. Dee spun to face him, the fear and shock leaving his face when he realized who had kissed him.

"Good morning, beautiful," Dee whispered as he pulled Ryo into his arms. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great", Ryo answered, wrapping his arms around Dee's neck and tilting his head upward to receive a warm kiss. The two men stood together, embracing and kissing, for a few moments in the silence of Ryo's apartment, until the silence was broken by the sound of the front door easing open.

Ryo pulled away gently. "That'll be Aunt Elena," he whispered quietly. "We should let her in this time, I think." He kissed Dee quickly on the ear before releasing his neck and walking toward the door.

"Aunt Elena?" Ryo called, pulling the door open further. But instead of his Aunt's fretting face greeting him in the hallway, he was met by a series of bright flashes that blinded him and left spots before his eyes.

"What the hell!" Dee exclaimed as he rushed to Ryo's side by the door.

Ryo was covering his face with his hand, trying to block the barrage of flashes. Soon, however, something more disconcerting than flashes was assaulting him. Questions, dozens of them, flying at him from all directions.

"What do you want?" Dee shouted over their queries, grabbing Ryo firmly by the arm as if sure he might faint.

"Detective MacLane, is it true you've pushed Laytner away?"

"Who is the woman you were seen with two nights ago?"

"Detective Laytner, do you have any preexisting relationship with the host from _Le Fin_?"

"_Time out_!" Dee yelled, silencing the questions but not halting the clicking and whirring of the cameras or the flashing of the bulbs. "Now, who the fuck are you people, and how did you get here?"

"Ryo!"

The detectives turned at the sound of Elena's cry and watched her shove the reporters aside to get to them at the door. "Ryo! Dee! I'm sorry, they saw me on the street and recognized me somehow, then they followed me here! I didn't mean it, really!" Her eyes were welling with angry tears as she explained all this.

"It's okay, just get in here," Ryo said, more roughly than he'd meant to, as he pulled her into the apartment. He tightened his robe about his neck, then looked pleadingly up at Dee. "What do we do?"

"Go inside, I'll make them leave," Dee said, pushing Ryo into the apartment after Elena. He turned to face the reporters again, and called to all of them as loudly as he could. "Listen up, shitheads! None of us are answering any of your questions, so get the fuck out of here! I don't care who you are or where you're from, we're not talking to you!"

He turned on his heel and slammed the door in their faces.

They were all silent as they recovered from the shock of what had happened. Elena sat on the couch with her hands covering all of her face except her eyes, which were wide, gaunt, and staring into nothingness. Ryo was leaning on the bookshelf near the door for support and was breathing rather heavily. Dee leaned lightly against the front door and kept running his fingers through his raven hair. No one spoke for a long time, not until the chatter of the reporters outside had dissipated and their footsteps had retreated down the hall. Once all this criteria was met, Elena let her hands leave her face and began to speak.

"They followed me from here to Dee's apartment last night, then followed me back here this morning. I didn't know they were there until I reached the door of the building, when they surrounded me and started asking me questions. I didn't know where else to go, so I just continued on my way up here. Then they took the keys and opened the door when I wouldn't let them in. I'm _so_ sorry." She buried her face in her hands again, covering her eyes this time.

"Why are we suddenly so important?" Ryo asked to the room. "Shouldn't they be accosting accused murderers and celebrities? Why are a couple of gay cops so fucking interesting?"

"They probably think you're corrupting America's youth or something retarded," Elena answered through her hands.

"What the fuck were they talking about?" Dee demanded suddenly. "What was all that shit about pushing me away and the restaurant guy?"

"Oh yeah…" Elena removed herself from her hands and reached into her purse. "They were asking me shit like that too, and when they did they shoved this at me."

Dee snatched the newspaper out of her hands before Ryo could get to it. He unfolded it and stared at their latest article, the headline of which ran:

_Gay Cops Growing Apart—Is This the End?_

"What the fuck…?" Dee said, as he scanned the article.

_Infamous NYPD detectives Randy MacLane and Dee Laytner, who have been spotted many times over publicly displaying their "affection", may be pulling the plug on what has become the most shocking and scandalous affair in New York City history. While they were seen walking to a restaurant together (above)—_

The article indicated a picture of Ryo and Dee walking down the street toward _Le Fin_, but Elena was mysteriously missing from the picture. Dee studied it for a moment and realized in horror that she had been poorly Photo-Shopped out.

—_they were also seen leaving that same restaurant separately, MacLane with a woman by his side, Laytner with a young man by his. MacLane's mystery escort has been identified only by the first name of Elena, and her ties to the detective are unknown. It seems clear, however, that she and Detective MacLane are close, as shown by their lack of qualms about showing their affection in public (above inset, right). _

Dee looked up at the indicated pictures. One showed Elena and Ryo walking out of _Le Fin_ with Ryo's arm around Elena's shoulder and Elena's arm around his back. The other was of Elena leaning up to kiss Ryo on the cheek.

_Detective Laytner's company was identified as a Jacob Bismark, who works in the restaurant in which the detectives were planning to dine. Detective Laytner was seen leaving the restaurant through a side door and into a back lot with Bismark, where we captured photos of what appears to be Laytner's betrayal of his commitment to MacLane (below left). _

Dee found the photograph they meant, and the bottom fell out of his stomach. He saw himself standing before the host boy, leaning over him to kiss his forehead—only the angle was not aligned very well, so it looked like he was kissing the boy much lower than he actually was.

_Sneaky fucking bastards…_ Dee thought angrily, crushing the edges of the newspaper in his clenched fists. But he read on.

_The morning after the incident at the restaurant _Le Fin_, the detectives went to work at the NYPD's 27th Precinct. As seen in the below photos, one of the detectives has apparently brought up the subject of the _Le Fin_ host, and neither detective looks happy about it. _

The bottom center picture showed Dee explaining his theory about Berkeley Rose being behind their slander, although the computer screen was conveniently blocked by Dee's shoulder, and Ryo sitting at his desk staring at Dee, looking none too thrilled about what he was hearing. The other showed Ryo speaking to Dee, although as grainy as the picture was he looked like he was screaming at him, and Dee's face was contorted into some kind of sadness or anguish.

_Are these men pushing each other away? Is life as gay men getting to them so much that they might call it all off? Only the detectives know for sure, but judging from the evidence, their fate seems clear—they are headed for disaster. _

As Dee finished the article, he slumped more heavily against the door, letting the paper go limp in his hand. Ryo snatched it from him before anyone could prevent him seeing it, and he and Elena read the article together. Ryo was slightly paler than before, and Elena's hand-guard was back around her face, but they looked like they'd make it.

"I'm not putting up with this shit," Dee said suddenly, jerking Ryo and Elena from their trance. "They can't just write bullshit stories about us and expect us to take it lying down. I'm fighting this, and I'm fighting them with their own guns. These mother fuckers will be sorry they ever picked up a fucking pen by the time I'm done."

His eyes blazed with a fire he hadn't really known since the orphanage he'd grown up in was bombed. His lips were pursed, his eyes were narrowed, and his fists were shaking with rage. He looked at Ryo, who was trembling slightly, and said very slowly and clearly, "I'm taking these bastards down, but I'm not going near the sons-of-bitches unless I have you there to help me." He stared his lover down, waiting for a response.

Ryo stood without the support of the shelf and walked to where Dee was standing against the door. He leaned up to kiss his partner chastely on the lips, then looked him in the eye.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Dee, I'm with you one hundred per cent." His eyes gleamed with a strange combination of fury and playfulness Dee had never seen before. "I'll stand beside you all the way."

Dee grinned, so did Ryo, and Elena hugged them both in relief. They were fighting, resisting, and they knew in their hearts they could win.

* * *

After taking some time showering and doing other various things to get ready for work, Ryo and Dee both managed to get out of the apartment and arrive at work only half an hour late. The chief started ranting when they first got there, but after hearing about their morning rather loudly from Elena, he backed off and let them get to work with only a few "stupid asshole" remarks as they went out the door. Once inside their office, the detectives got to work while Elena busily searched every nook and cranny of the office for possible portals through which a slimy reporter might sneak a phony photo. She'd been hurt after being Photo-Shopped from the restaurant picture, and felt that if she wasn't going to be properly portrayed, no one would be portrayed at all.

The day passed by uneventfully, as Ryo filled out form after form of backed-up paperwork and Dee pretended top scribble notes into his handy-dandy detective notebook. Even the ancient kidnapping case had been passed on to what the state considered "more competent hands". As the clock started to inch toward lunchtime, Dee looked up from his phony labors to look his partner in the eye.

"Do you really think I'm crazy for suspecting Rose?" he asked after staring for a long moment.

Ryo stopped typing and sighed. "I don't think you're crazy, Dee, not this time. You seem to have thoroughly backed your suspicions up for once, but…" He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't know how to explain it, but I just can't see the commissioner getting into something like that, you know?" He looked his partner in the face, and saw from the corner of his eye that Berkeley Rose's file was open on Dee's desktop. "You just always seem to want to pit stuff on him, and I don't think it's fair."

"I don't _want_ to pit stuff on him, that's just the way I see it!" Dee defended. "If you looked at this file in depth like I did, you'd see it too, Ryo."

"But you didn't stumble across that file while searching for perps with that MO, did you?" Ryo said tonelessly. "You went to Rose's file and looked for allegations connecting to us."

"And I found something! Shouldn't the ends justify the means? What if he _is_ the guy, huh, what then? We sit and wait for him to run a bad enough story that we actually get fired?"

"No!" Ryo burst, slamming his fist on the table, scattering papers to the floor. Dee recoiled at the outburst, but stayed his ground. "I just think we need to go about this logically! If you bring this up as an actual accusation, all Rose has to do is mention that you have been against him from the start and your ass gets thrown out on the courthouse steps." Ryo frowned deeply, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, then picked up his pen. He was filling out paperwork again.

Dee waited for a moment to see if there was more. Then, upon discovering there wasn't any, he left his swivel chair to stand beside Ryo. When his partner looked up, Dee kneeled down and kissed him lightly. Ryo stared at him questioningly with his dark, Asian eyes.

"I've never liked him, I'll be honest about that," Dee whispered, as if someone was waiting behind the door of the office. "But I only didn't like him because I always knew that he liked you, and I was scared that someone like him would be more your type than someone like me." He rubbed the back of his head and looked down. "I was jealous, and scared shitless of losing you. And I still am scared shitless, Ryo, I'm scared everyday that you'll realize how unworthy I am of you and that you'll leave me. If that happened, I…" He wiped away a tear as it started to leave his eye, praying to God Ryo hadn't noticed.

Ryo took hold of his partner's chin and pulled it up to face him. He smiled. "Never be afraid that I'll leave you, because I won't. I love you more than anything, and nothing can ever change that." Dee leaned his head forward a little to receive Ryo's loving kiss, taking his hand in the process.

"Aw, you guys are so CUTE!" came a squeal from the doorway. The detectives looked up to see Elena standing in the open door. She was holding something in her hand, which she clicked quickly with her thumb. "This ought to show them, right?" She held up the device in her hand—it was a tape recorder.

"Aunt Elena, no!" Ryo exclaimed immediately. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you boys some decent press," she answered matter-of-factly. "If we intend to fight these bastards, we need something to fight with. You two talking all cute and uncensored like that will make every straight woman and gay man squirm—not to mention support you for life!"

The ancient clock in the front office weakly chimed the striking of the hour, and every desk and chair suddenly scraped as a flurry of people flew from their work to the sanctity of the outside world for lunch.

"Ready to go?" came a tired voice from behind Elena. When she turned, the voice's owner was revealed to be Drake.

"Oh, yeah, just a sec." She turned back to Ryo and Dee and asked, "You guys want to come to lunch with us? My treat."

"Hell yeah, let's go!" Dee screeched leaping up. He halted at the door and stared intently at Drake. "What are the whereabouts of a certain blue-haired fag?"

"He's with Ted, man," Drake swore, raising his hands in the air in submission. "I stuck him with someone else so I could go out with Elena, alone, but—"

"You found out she's married and therefore can't date anyone while she's out here?" Ryo cut in. Elena glared at him.

"Wha…" Drake said sheepishly, looking from Elena to Ryo in horror.

"What do you care, dude? Free lunch!" Dee said, and led the party down the hall and into the street.

The foursome went to some homey Mexican _restaurante_ two blocks down from the precinct for lunch. They laughed and talked like friends do as they ate their food, Elena laughing and learning as she listened to Drake's war stories and Dee's complete dismissal of all of them. They were just finishing up and about to ask for the check when three people walked up to their table.

All three—two boys, one girl—were rather young, maybe nineteen tops. One boy was dressed conservatively in a plain white T-shirt and loose fitting jeans, while the other was obviously a total flamer, with a tie-dye tank top and super-skinny jeans. The girl was wearing a punked-out schoolgirl uniform complete with rips and safety pins. They were a mismatched group, but they were all, for some reason, very nervous. They pushed the flamer forward to talk to the detectives and Elena.

"Er, hi…" he said, much more timidly than he probably normally was. "I'm, I mean, we're…we were wondering if…"

"Spit it out kid, what do you want?" Dee asked sharply. He was only trying to mess with the boy, but it got him very flustered.

"Go on, Ken!" the girl whispered loudly.

"Yeah, um, we were wondering if we could…" He was still stuttering terribly.

Ryo spotted a digital camera attached to his wrist that he was playing with as he spoke.

"Do you want us to take your picture?" Ryo offered, trying to help the poor kid find his voice.

"Yeah!" he said brightly, gaining confidence as his point got across. "Well, sort of. We were actually wondering—" He looked at his friends for support, and they urged him on. "—if you would take a picture _with_ us."

"You mean," Dee said, "you want us in the picture, too?"

"Exactly!" the girl squealed, although she recoiled again almost immediately.

"Why?" Ryo asked.

"You're the cops from the newspaper, right?" the conservative boy asked. Dee and Ryo nodded. "Well…you're kind of our heroes," the boy finished quietly.

Drake dropped his cigarette, Dee spit out his coffee, and Ryo and Elena went entirely still.

"Us?" Ryo asked, his voice barely audible. "We're you're heroes?"

"Why?" Dee asked, cleaning up his mess.

"Because," the flamer answered, "you've been so openly—" He looked around to see if anyone was looking, then finished quietly with, "gay. You've inspired us to be more open too!"

Now everyone was quiet. The kids started to look anxious, like they were losing their battle and didn't know how to regain control.

"What are your names?" Elena asked finally.

"I'm Kent," the flamer replied. "That's Kylie, and this is Jason." He pointed the girl and then to the boy, but his eye stayed on the boy far longer than on the girl.

"All right, then," Elena said, waving at each of them in turn. "So, who here is gay?" she asked boldly.

All their eyes widened. "Er, I am," Kent, the flamer, responded, "and Jason is, too. And Kylie over there's a lesbian."

"Ew, liar!" Kylie protested. "I am not! I'm—"

"Bisexual?" Dee finished for her.

Kylie stared at him in awe for a moment, then mustered, "How did you…?"

"I get that a lot too," Dee answered. He smiled at her widely and warmly. She smiled back timidly.

Ryo studied Kent and Jason for a minute, then ventured, "I don't mean to be rude, but are you two…together?" He waved his finger lightly between the two boys.

Kent looked to Jason, as though Jason was the one who usually had trouble saying it. Looking at the love in his eyes made Ryo suddenly see Dee and himself when they first started their relationship. Seeing that forced patience take over Kent's face and the pain in his eyes at he stared longingly at Jason made Ryo's heart ache for Dee and all the pain he must have gone through waiting for Ryo to come out. Ryo turned away from the boys for a moment to sneak a quick glance a Dee, who was staring intently at the boys. Ryo turned back to them, but sought Dee's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze under the table.

"Y-yeah," Jason stuttered, looking down at his feet then back up at Kent. "W-we are, yeah."

"Well that's great," Ryo said, squeezing Dee's hand a little tighter. "How long?"

Kent immediately recited what he must have practiced a hundred times, hoping he'd one day get to say it, "Two years, ten months, sixteen days!"

"Ken!" Jason whispered.

"Oh come on, that means we beat them to it, huh?" Kent was smiling ear to ear.

"Where do you want the picture?" Elena asked, breaking the subject.

"How about in the booth?" Dee suggested. "Elena and Drake can get out and the kids can sit with us. Elena, go pay, and Drake take the picture. It's perfect!" He hit the table with his fist and grinned like it was genius.

"Okay!" Kylie exclaimed, leaping into the booth as soon as Elena and Drake had cleared it so she could sit next to Dee. Once beside him, she cupped her hand around his ear and whispered "Most girls' favorite is Ryo, mine has always been _you_!"

"There are favorites?" Dee asked aloud. Kylie shushed him. Kent scooted in next to Ryo and Jason sat next to him.

Elena gave Drake the money to pay so she could take the picture herself. "All right everyone scoot together in the middle, that's it, now smile and say—"

"Gay any day!" Dee shouted over her lame call of "cheese!"

"Be queer, no veneer!" Kent called louder, clutching Jason's hand to his chest for the picture.

The camera flashed brightly, but everyone kept smiling long afterwards. The kids followed the detectives and Elena back to the precinct, everyone talking and laughing like old friends, even Drake and Jason. Once they reached the office, Elena decided to go off with the kids to shop and play while the three men went to work.

"Bye guys," Ryo called as he waved.

"Queer, no veneer!" Dee yelled.

The kids laughed and kept walking. The detectives continued into the precinct.

"Well," Drake claimed as they started down the hall, "that was by far the weirdest fucking lunch I ever had."

"Funny, it was the best for me," Ryo said calmly, looking up at Dee and smiling.

"Me too," Dee agreed, winking very conspicuously. "Come on, let's go to work."

* * *

Yay! Our heroes are heroes! And in case you were wondering (which I'm sure you weren't, but whatevah) the names Kylie and Jason came from the names Kyle and Jason from the book _Rainbow Boys_ (YOU MUST ALL READ IT! YOUR GREAT FANFICTION MASTER ALEX STARR COMMANDS IT!). The other character, Nelson, wasn't used because I thought it would be too obvious, so I used Kent, the guy my supposedly-straight brother's "lover", Kent. Randomness, I know. Review review! 


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